Strong National Museum of Play, the only museum anywhere devoted solely to the study and interpretation of play, is pleased to announce the establishment of the National Center for the History of Electronic Games (NCHEG), dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting electronic games and game forms for future generations.
The National Center for the History of Electronic Games houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of electronic game platforms and games in the United States (nearly 15,000 items). The Center’s collections are broadly inclusive and also encompass packaging, advertising, publications, electronic-game-inspired consumer products, literary and popular inspirations of electronic-games imagery, historical records, personal and business papers, and other associated artifacts.
The Center’s holdings include examples of every major home video-game console manufactured since 1972 (from Magnavox Odyssey and Atari 2600 through Nintendo Wii); more than 10,000 individual video-game titles (from Atari Space Invaders to Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog to Wii Sports); more than one-hundred examples of all major handheld games systems (from Milton Bradley Microvision to Sony PSP); more than 2,000 children’s educational games; and an extensive collection of children’s toys, such as Simon, Tamogotchi, and Webkinz, that combine digital and traditional play; and much, much more.
According to G. Rollie Adams, president and CEO of Strong National Museum of Play, “Electronic games are not only changing the way we play; they are having a profound effect on the way we learn and the way we interact with each other. Because Strong National Museum of Play is dedicated to exploring the role of play in American life, we are especially interested in the growing impact that electronic games have on it. The National Center for the History of Electronic Games is the museum’s mechanism for collecting games and related artifacts and documentation; and for interpreting them through exhibits, publications, and other means. We have been fortunate to assemble one of the two or three largest, and arguably the most broadly comprehensive, collections of electronic games and associated items in the country.”
All the collections in the NCHEG at Strong are accessible to researchers on site. Many examples are on view in museum displays and exhibits, and some are available for museum guests to play. In development is an expansive, long-term, interactive exhibit tentatively titled The Revolutionary World of Electronic Games that will interpret the impact of electronic games on the way people play, learn, and connect with each other. In addition, through grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the museum is currently cataloging its entire collection of video games and electronic-games-related toy catalogs with the goal of making information about them accessible online. -- www.strongmuseum.org
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